Brussels, Belgium
February 16, 2009
EuropaBio, the European
Association for Bioindustries, is delighted to see that numerous
Member State experts voting in the Standing Committee on the
Food Chain and Animal Health decided to defend the authorisation
procedure, science and Europe’s farmers by supporting the
European Commission’s proposal that France and Greece lift their
illegal bans on GM crops. (1)
“Today’s vote demonstrates that more and more Member States are
following the science as to the safety of these GM products and
listening to the voice of their farmers (2) who are increasingly
interested in using new technologies such as agricultural
biotechnology to meet the dual challenge of feeding a growing
population and minimising the impact of farming on the
environment”, says Nathalie Moll, Executive Director of Green
Biotechnology Europe at EuropaBio.
“In so doing, these Member States are helping consumers gain
confidence in European legislation and our elected
representatives to base decisions on scientific fact, not
fiction” said Willy De Greef, Secretary General EuropaBio.
(1) EFSA Opinion on French safeguard clause for MON810 maize (29
October 2008):
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902156394.htm
EFSA Opinion on the Greek safeguard clause for MON810 maize (3
July 2008):
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902001981.htm
(2) See compilation of surveys in EuropaBio press release from
12 February:
http://www.europabio.org/PressReleases/green/090212_Final_Right_to_choose.pdf
EuropaBio is the European Association for Bioindustries,
solely and uniquely bringing together bioscience companies from
all fields of research and development, testing, manufacturing
and distribution of biotechnology products. It has 68 corporate
members operating worldwide, 5 associate members, 4 BioRegions
and 25 national biotechnology associations representing some
1800 small and medium sized enterprises involved in research.
Its mission is to promote an innovative and dynamic
biotechnology-based industry in Europe. |
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